Engineer Jen's Story
by JuliaBeth
Summary: My take on Rooster and Jen's romance and how she came to be in Garrison, CO.


A/N: I own nothing you recognize.

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It had been a long, shit day, and after the fight with Jeff, her on again, off again, boyfriend, Jen Parnell decided to go to Maggie's, the only bar in the little Godforsaken town her work had sent her to this month.

She was shocked to see Rooster Bennett standing behind the bar. She had thought he'd been joking about owning a bar. Was it just this morning that she told him she had a boyfriend?

She sat down at the bar and he made a joke about her boyfriend, then look taken aback when she said they had actually broken up. He offered what she assumed was his standard apology. He gave her a free drink but charged her for being mean. All in all, she spent 45 dollars insulting Rooster. Money well spent. She had to admit he'd been a good sport, even laughing at some of her comments. She drank probably more than that and she was still there, talking to him at closing time. She was shocked that he really was a good guy. Loud, egotistical, but nice. And she needed a nice, decent guy. Was it any surprise that she invited him back to her hotel room, then threw herself into his arms. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to hook up or if she just didn't want to be alone. However, that kiss caught her off guard. He was really good at kissing. He closed the bar in record time, driving her back to her hotel since he was the soberer of the two. Then in her room, she drank even more.

She woke up the next morning with a splitting headache and deep sense of regret that she'd actually slept with Rooster Bennett. She looked at the nightstand searching for her phone when she saw the bottle of water and two aspirins sitting by her phone. Well, at least he was considerate.

She popped the aspirins in her mouth and chugged the water before sitting up. That's when she realized that she was still fully clothed. So, did they have sex? She tried to remember but the last thing she could fully remember was pulling him into the bedroom by his obnoxiously large belt buckle. Surely they had. Who could mistake that sign? But why would she have gotten completely dressed again?

She picked up her phone to call him but cringed at the thought. What could she say? 'Excuse me? Did we have sex? I was too drunk to remember.'

No. The best thing to do would be to just ignore him until this assignment was over. Except she couldn't really do that. She was working on his property. Well, she would ignore him as much as possible and be completely professional when she couldn't ignore him.

That lasted a whole week before she ran into him at Beau's. She rushed out to her truck but wasn't fast enough as Rooster followed her outside. She tried to make it clear that she wasn't interested in being picked up, but then his STD line made her laugh breaking the ice.

"Listen, Rooster, about the other night," she started, looking at the ground. "You were a very nice guy and I really needed a friend but I..., I'm sorry if our sleeping together gave you the impression that I..,"

"We didn't sleep together," he interrupted.

"What?"

"We didn't have sex."

She looked at him confused.

"You really don't remember do you?" he asked.

She shook her head embarrassed. "I remember asking you back to my hotel and pulling you into the bedroom and then waking up the next morning."

"Yeah. Well, after you insulted my capabilities, we went back to your hotel where you proceeded to empty most of the rest of the minibar. We kissed. You started getting sleepy, so I convinced you to go to bed. You pulled me in there with you. By my belt, by the way. Then passed out almost as soon as you fell on the bed. I took your shoes off, put a blanket on you, got you some aspirin and water, and left. You know, nice guy shit."

"Why? I mean, I'd been very clear that I was inviting you back to hook up," she said.

He stepped closer to her, so close she could smell his cologne and the Jack Daniels he'd been drinking when she arrived. "Because when I sleep with you, it'll be because you want it, not because you are so drunk that you don't know who or what you're doing and trust me, you will remember it."

Okay, that was way better than the STD line. She stared at him for a moment, trying to make her brain form a coherent sentence and not just jump into his arms again.

"Well, it'll be hard to forget Usain Bolt," she said finally.

He chuckled and stepped back, letting her get into her truck. He shut the door behind her. "See ya, Engineer Jen."

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Please R and R.


End file.
